Tài liệu quản lý dự án - Project management chapter 4

Tài liệu quản lý dự án - Project management chapter 4

Notes 125

7 Artto, K A., Martinsuo, M., and Aalto, T (Eds.) (2001), Project

Portfolio Management: Strategic Management Through Projects

Helsinki: Project Management Association; Artto, K A (2001),

"Management of project-oriented organization—Conceptual

analysis," in Artto, K A., Martinsuo, M., and Aalto, T (Eds.)

(2001), Project Portfolio Management: Strategic Management

Through Projects Helsinki: Project Management Association

8 Pinto, J K and Millet, I (1999), Successful Information System

Implementation: The Human Side, 2nd ed Newtown Square,

PA: Project Management Institute

9 Saaty, T L (1996), The Analytical Hierarchy Process

Pittsburgh, PA: RWS Publications

10 Millet, I (1994), "Who's on first?" CIO Magazine, Feb 15,

pp 24-27

11 Mian, S A and Dai, C X (1999), "Decision-making over the

project life cycle: An analytical hierarchy approach," Project

Management Journal, 30(1), 40-52

12 Foreman, E H., Saaty, T L., Selly, M., and Waldron, R (1996),

Expert Choice McLean, VA: Decision Support Software

13 Millet, I and Schoner, B (2005), "Incorporating negative

val-ues into the Analytical Hierarchy Process," Computers and

Operations Research, (12), 3163-3173

14 Evans, D A and Souder, W E (1998), "Methods for selecting

and evaluating projects," in Pinto, J K (Ed.), The Project

Management Institute Project Management Handbook San

Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass

15 Reilly, F K (1985), Investment Analysis and Portfolio

Management, 2nd ed Chicago, IL: The Dryden Press

16 Keown, A J., Scott, Jr., D F., Martin, J D., and Petty, J.W

(1996), Basic Financial Management, 7th ed Upper Saddle

River, NJ: Prentice Hall; Evans, D A and Souder, W E., ibid

17 Dixit, A K and Pindyck, R S (1994), Investment under Uncertainty Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press; Huchzermeier, W and Loch, C H (2001), "Project manage-ment under risk: Using the real options approach to evaluate flexibility in R&D," Management Science, 47(1), 85-101

18 Meredith, J R and Mantel, S J (2003), ibid

19 Dye, L D and Pennypacker, J S (Eds.) (1999), Project Portfolio Management: Selecting and Prioritizing Projects for Competitive Advantage West Chester, PA: Center for Business Practices

20 Elton, J and Roe, J (1998), "Bringing discipline to project management," Harvard Business Review, March–April

21 Artto, K A., (2001), ibid

22 Lehtonen, M (2001), "Resource allocation and project folio management in pharmaceutical R&D," in Artto, K A., Martinsuo, M., and Aalto, T (Eds.), (2001), Project Portfolio Management: Strategic Management Through Projects

port-Helsinki: Project Management Association, pp 107-140

23 Brown, S L and Eisenhardt, K M (1997), "The art of uous change: Linking complexity theory and time-paced evo-lution in relentlessly shifting organizations," Administrative Science Quarterly, 42(1), 1-34

contin-24 Cooper, R and Edgett, S (1997), "Portfolio management in new product development: Lesson from the leaders I,"

Research Technology Management, 40(5), 16-28; Longman, A., Sandahl, D., and Speir, W (1999), "Preventing project pro-liferation," PMNetwork, 13(7); Dobson, M (1999), The Juggler's Guide to Managing Multiple Projects Newtown Square, PA: Project Management Institute

Leadership and the Project Manager

Chapter Outline

PROJECT PROFILE Case—New Product Development at PING Golf, Inc

INTRODUCTION

4.1 LEADERS VS MANAGERS 4.2 HOW THE PROJECT MANAGER LEADS

Acquiring Project Resources Motivating and Building Teams Having a Vision and Fighting Fires Communicating

PROJECT MANAGEMENT RESEARCH IN BRIEF Leadership and Emotional Intelligence

4.3 TRAITS OF EFFECTIVE PROJECT LEADERS

Conclusions about Project Leaders PROJECT PROFILE

John Parker and A.G Edwards Leading and Time Orientation

4.4 PROJECT CHAMPIONS

Champions—Who Are They?

What Do Champions Do?

How to Make a Champion

4.5 THE NEW PROJECT LEADERSHIP 4.6 PROJECT MANAGEMENT PROFESSIONALISM

Summary Key Terms Discussion Questions Case Study 4.1 In Search of Effective Project Managers Case Study 4.2 Finding the Emotional Intelligence to Be a Real Leader Case Study 4.3 Problems with John

126

After completing this chapter, you should be able to:

1 Understand how project management is a "leader intensive" profession

2 Distinguish between the role of a manager and the characteristics of a leader

3 Understand the concept of emotional intelligence as it relates to how project managers lead

4 Recognize traits that are strongly linked to effective project leadership

5 Understand the implications of time orientation on project management

6 Identify the key roles project champions play in project success

7 Recognize the principles that typify the new project leadership

8 Understand the development of project management professionalism in the discipline

PROJECT MANAGEMENT BODY OF KNOWLEDGE CORE CONCEPTS COVERED

IN THIS CHAPTER

1 Key General Management Skills (PMBoK sec 2.4)

2 Team Development (PMBoK 9.3)

3 Communications Planning (PMBoK 10.1)

PROJECT PROFILE

Case—New Product Development at PING Golf, Inc

Since its founding in 1959 by Karsten Solheim, PING, Inc has been an industry leader in the design and turing of premium golf equipment, including golf clubs (irons, drivers, and fairway metals), soft goods (golf bags), and other ancillary equipment (gloves, travel bags, and so forth) Long known for the innovativeness of its designs and quality of equipment, PING pioneered personalized fitting and customized production processes In fact, its manufacturing systems employ casting processes that are so precise, it is the only golf equipment manufacturer to achieve ISO 9001 certification The privately held company is headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona, where it main- tains a large testing center, design laboratories, manufacturing facility, and assembly area PING employs more than 1,200 people worldwide and exports to 65 countries

manufac-The high-end golf equipment industry is profitable and highly competitive For 2008, total sales of golf equipment were over $2.75 billion, divided between hard goods, golf balls, and soft goods PING's annual revenues position it as the fourth largest manufacturer of golf equipment in the world

Innovation is a key to success in this industry A critical component of innovation is constant new product introductions The standard new product development (NPD) life cycle at PING tracks the following stages: (1) Research—this first phase concentrates on the physics of various elements and designs (2) Development— commercial development work begins to occur (3) Design and testing—when a commercially viable concept has been proven out in the development stage, and when that concept is "selected" as something required in a design, then the specific product geometry is worked through Finite Element Analysis and other computer simulation methods are used to confirm the viability of these designs This step includes design prototypes (4) Prototyping and "prove out"—Tooling is created and production prototypes are run This stage includes conformational testing and performance analysis Any failure here indicates root cause failure somewhere in one of the first three stages (5) Full-scale production

Experts in the golf club industry note that the average new product has a commercial life of about two years As

a result, PING and companies like it are constantly running their NPD processes in support of new product launches, whether the product line consists of hard goods, like golf clubs, or soft goods, such as bags and other products In fact,

a successfully launched product simply serves as the springboard for next generation applications and testing New materials, new designs, and geometry changes are all critical and ongoing components of the NPD mind-set All golf club manufacturers are acutely aware of the fact that today's success stories may be tomorrow's failures, if their company becomes complacent or excessively conservative in new equipment introductions

(continued)

Problems and Solutions

At the start of the new decade, PING faced a number of significant challenges to its new product development processes Because of a number of factors, including late design changes and delayed introductions, by 2000, PING was averaging only one new product introduction per year In effect, the average time to market for new products was lengthening just as the actual number of new equipment introductions was drying up

In 2001, PING promoted John K Solheim, Karsten's grandson, to be the new vice president of Engineering PING opted for a new engineering direction at this time that included a number of important initiatives First, through col- laborative engineering, PING formalized its product development processes, creating a common approach that was replicable across product categories Second, PING initiated strict project management practices specifically designed to: (1) control product development cycles by demanding schedule sensitivity, (2) encourage cross-disciplinary commu- nication, and (3) create a high-performance culture Third, PING adopted powerful new computer-assisted design (CAD) technology, which allowed for dramatic time reductions in analysis and testing while promoting better overall document control and knowledge retention Finally, the roles of R&D and Design were clarified and the responsibilities for each department were made clear Thus, R&D's new product development responsibilities were identified and a

philosophy of "Test then design" became the new goal within the organization By emphasizing the importance of

innovative technical computer simulation approaches like Finite Elements Analysis during product design work, much less time was spent cycling back and forth between the Design and R&D departments, as products were modified Subsequent modifications over the succeeding years have led to a number of additional advantages for PING It developed a Five-Year Product Launch Plan, which promotes the strategic management of new product development processes, improving productivity while maximizing the efficient use of resources Further, as it has gotten more profi- cient with this new strategy and the relationship between the Design and R&D departments, it has drastically reduced the number of late design changes and improved product modeling times This philosophy is encapsulated in PING's drive to create "a learning organization" that pushes for lean development practices, applies previous lessons, and is constantly looking for ways to adapt and improve its development processes In noting the critical relationship between lean development and best practices, Dan Shoenhair, PING's director of Engineering, puts it succinctly: "Which

do you need more, your heart or your brain? If you leave either out, you're just as dead It's the same with product development you can't separate lean product development from the concept of a 'learning environment —

FIGURE 4.1 PING's Newest Driver—

4.1 Leaders vs Managers 129

PING's successful upgrading of its new product development processes has been seen in a number of able ways Its CAD efficiency has increased over 2,000% and overall engineering efficiency is up by more than five times over the old approaches Time to market for new equipment has been reduced by 63%, while new product introductions have risen by 433% As the figure below demonstrates, since the introduction of its new NPD approach at the start of the decade, PING's average time to market for new products has dropped from 24 months

measur-to 8, while new product introductions have risen from 3 per year in 2001 measur-to 17 in 2008

PING's NPD process is also working for its bottom line In 2007 (the last year of available data), PING's product line included the best-selling driver, iron, and bag brand as well as the second-best-selling putter in the golf industry More important, 85% of PING's total sales are from brands that are less than two years old Product innovation pays off When asked the reasons for PING's dramatic improvement in NPD practices, John K Solheim observed,

"Looking back at all the improvements we've made, I credit our success to having the right people, providing them the right tools, and creating efficient processes."

Solheim continued, "We want to test the 'physics' of a principle and understand the variables and the relationship between those variables Once we understand this 'knowledge landscape,' then we can design with confidence The reverse of this is to pick a design geometry and test it to see if it works In our paradigm of test- ing the physics first and designing within the parameters we know work, our designs are much more reliable in terms of quality and performance." 1

INTRODUCTION

Leadership is often recognized by its accomplishments When Lee Iaccoca took over at Chrysler Corporation,

he inherited a company in deep trouble Years of losses and cost cutting had reduced the quality and styling of Chrysler cars to the point where they were no longer competitive with the rest of the auto industry Without the commitment of the U.S government to offer huge loans, it was expected that the company would declare bankruptcy any day Iaccoca hit the floundering organization like a tidal wave, removing dozens of high-paid senior corporate officials, demanding better quality and streamlined development processes, putting his face

on television advertising with his personal commitment to fix Chrysler's problems Sales rebounded, morale rose dramatically, and Iaccoca's proudest moment was when he returned to Capitol Hill with a check that repaid, years before it was due, the government loan his company had taken to stave off collapse

The situation Jack Welch faced when he took over as CEO at General Electric was very different He inherited a company that was considered a corporate powerhouse, had strong finances, and was a household name around the world Within a couple of years, he stirred up the moribund bureaucracy at GE, ruthlessly selling off underperforming divisions and cutting jobs to the point where his subordinates nicknamed him

"Neutron Jack," after the neutron bomb Like the weapon, employees said, he got rid of people and left the building standing His brisk manner, willingness to lead by personal example, and attention to detail all paid remarkable dividends as he transported GE to its highest level of corporate profitability When he retired in

2001, Welch had overseen the transformation of GE into a firm with one of the largest market capitalizations, based on stock price, in the world

Leadership is a difficult concept to examine because we all have our own definition of leadership, our own examples of leaders in actions, and our own beliefs about what makes leaders work The topic of leader-ship has generated more than 30,000 articles and hundreds of books While there are many definitions of

leadership, one useful definition that we will employ in this chapter is that leadership is the ability to inspire

confidence and support among the people who are needed to achieve organizational goals 2 For the project manager, leadership is the process by which he or she influences the project team to get the job done!

True leadership from the project manager has been shown time and again to be one of the most tant characteristics in successful project management The impact of good leadership is felt within the team and has an effect on other functional managers and important project stakeholders 3 In fact, project manage-ment has been viewed as one of the most "leader intensive" undertakings that occur within organizations 4

impor-4.1 LEADERS VS MANAGERS

Most leaders are quick to reject the idea that they were, by themselves, responsible for the successes attained or the important changes undertaken within their organizations For them, leadership involves an awareness of a part-nership, an active collaboration between the leader and the team In project management, successful team leaders are often those who were best able to create the partnership attitude between themselves and their teams As Peter Blocks notes, the idea of leadership as partnership is critical to project management because it highlights the

important manner in which all leaders are ultimately dependent upon their teams to achieve project goals Four things are necessary to promote the partnership idea between the project manager and the team:

1 Exchange of purpose Partnerships require that every worker be responsible for defining the project's

vision and goals A steady dialogue between the project manager and team members can create a consistent and widely shared vision

2 A right to say no It is critical that all members of the project team feel they have the ability to disagree, to offer contrary positions Supporting people's right to voice their disagreements is a corner-stone of a partnership Losing arguments is acceptable; losing the right to disagree is not

3 Joint accountability In a partnership, each member of the project team is responsible for the ject's outcomes and the current situation, whether it is positive or shows evidence of problems The

pro-project is shared among multiple participants and the results of the pro-project are also shared

4 Absolute honesty Partnerships demand authenticity An authentic atmosphere promotes

straightfor-wardness and honesty among all participants Because we respect each team member's role on the project,

we make an implicit pact that all information, both good and bad, becomes community information Just

as honesty is a cornerstone of successful marriages, it is critical in project team relationships

Leadership is distinguishable from other management roles in a number of ways A manager is an individual who has received a title within the organization that permits her to plan, organize, direct, and control the behavior of others within her department or area of oversight Leadership may be part of the manager's job but the other management roles are more administrative in nature Leadership is less about administration and more about interpersonal relationships Leadership involves inspiring, motivating, influencing, and changing behaviors of others in pursuit of a common goal Leaders embrace change; managers support the status quo Leaders aim for effectiveness; managers for efficiency Table 4.1 illustrates some of the distinctions between typical management behavior and the kinds of processes with which leaders are engaged

Table 4.1 offers us some insights into distinctions between managers and leaders Although leaders need to recognize the importance of managerial duties, it is often difficult for managers to recognize the non-standard, interpersonal nature of leadership However, this is not to say that leadership is merely an innate characteristic that some of us have and others do not Most research and common experience seem to indi-cate that leadership behaviors can be taught That is the good news: Leadership can be learned And a number

of properties and models of leadership are quite relevant for project managers

TABLE 4.1 Differences Between Managers and Leaders 6

Focus on plans and budgets;

create steps, timetables for achieving results, look for resources to support goals Organize and staff; create structure for achieving the plans; delegate responsibility and authority; develop procedures to guide behavior;

create monitoring systems Control and solve problems;

monitor results and apply corrective action

Produce a degree of predictability and order; seek to maintain the status quo

Efficiency of operations Short-term, avoiding risks, maintaining, and imitating

Establish direction; create a vision and the strategies needed to achieve it

Align people with the target; communicate direction by word and deed to those whose cooperation is needed; create teams that understand and share the project's vision Motivate and inspire; energize people to overcome obstacles and show personal initiative Produce change; challenge the status quo

Effectiveness of outcomes Long-term, taking risks, innovating, and originating

Source: 1)uBrin, Andrew J., Leadership, 3rd edition Copyright CO 2001 by South-Western, a part of Cengage Learning, Inc Reproduced

by permission www.cengage.com/permissions

4.2 How the Project Manager Leads 131

Although we will use the term project manager throughout the chapter, we do so only because it has

become the common designation of the head or leader of a project team A much better image is the idea of the "project leader." Successful project managers are successful project leaders

This chapter will examine both the general concept of organizational leadership and the special conditions under which project managers are expected to operate What is it about projects that make them a unique challenge

to manage? Why is leadership such an integral role in successful project management? The more we are able to understand about the dynamics of this concept, the better we will be able to effectively manage our implementation projects and train a future generation of managers in the tasks and skills required for them to perform their jobs

4.2 HOW THE PROJECT MANAGER LEADS

The wide range of duties that a project manager is expected to take on covers everything from direct sion to indirect influence, from managing "hard" technical details to controlling "soft" people issues, from developing detailed project plans and budgets to adjudicating team member quarrels and smoothing stake-holder concerns In short, the project manager's job encapsulates, in many ways, the role of a mini-CEO, someone who is expected to manage holistically, focusing on the complete project management process from start to finish In this section we will examine a variety of the duties and roles that project managers must take

supervi-on as they work to successfully manage their projects

Acquiring Project Resources

Project resources refer to all personnel and material resources necessary to successfully accomplish project objectives Many projects are underfunded in the concept stage This lack of resource support can occur for several reasons, including:

1 The project's goals are deliberately vague Sometimes a project is kicked off with its overall goals still somewhat "fluid." Perhaps the project is a pure research effort in a laboratory or an information tech-nology project that is designed to explore new possibilities for chip design or computer speed Under these circumstances, companies sponsor projects with a deliberately "fuzzy" mandate, in order to allow the project team maximum flexibility

2 The project lacks a top management sponsor As we will learn, having a project champion in the top

management of the organization can be very helpful to project development, particularly in gaining port for the project with sufficient resources On the other hand, when no powerful sponsor emerges for the project, it may face underfunding compared to other projects competing for scarce company resources

sup-3 The project requirements were deliberately understated It is not uncommon for project resource

needs to be purposely understated at the outset in order to get them accepted by the organization

4 So many projects may be under development that there is simply not enough money to go around

A common reason for lack of resource support for many projects is that the company is constantly developing so many projects that it is impossible to fund them all adequately Instead, the company adopts a "take it or leave it" attitude that presents project managers with the option of accepting either insufficient funding or none at all

5 An attitude of distrust between top management and project managers Sometimes projects receive low funding because top management is convinced that project managers are deliberately padding their estimates to gain excessive funding We will discuss this attitude in Chapter 11, "Critical Chain Project Scheduling."

Regardless of the reasons for the lack of project resources, there is no doubt that many projects face extremely tight budgets and inadequate human resources Yet there are some options open to project managers as they seek to supplement their project's resource support If the resource problem is a personnel issue, project managers may seek to find alternative avenues to solve the difficulty For example, suppose that you were the project manager for

an upgrade to an existing software package your company uses to control materials flow and warehousing in ufacturing If trained programmers are simply unavailable to work on your upgrade project, you may seek to hire temporary contract employees People with specialized skills such as programming can often be acquired on a short-term basis to fill the gaps in the availability of in-house personnel to do the same assignments The key point

man-to remember is that recognizing and responding man-to resource needs is a critical function of project leadership Another common tactic project managers use in the face of resource shortfalls is to rely on negotiation

or political tactics to influence top management to provide additional support Because resources must often

be negotiated with top management, it is clear that the ability to successfully negotiate and apply influence

where the project manager has no direct authority is a critical skill Again, leadership is best demonstrated by the skills a project manager uses to maintain the viability of the project, whether dealing with top manage-ment, clients, the project team, or other significant stakeholders

Motivating and Building Teams

The process of molding a diverse group of functional experts into a cohesive and collaborative team is not

a challenge to be undertaken lightly Team building and motivation present enormously complex hurdles, and dealing comfortably with human processes is not part of every manager's background For example, it

is very common within engineering or other technical jobs for successful employees to be promoted to project manager They typically become quickly adept at dealing with the technical challenges of project management but have a difficult time understanding and working to master the human challenges Their background, training, education, and experiences have prepared them well for technical problems but have neglected the equally critical behavioral elements in successful project management

In considering how to motivate individuals on our project teams, it is important to recognize that

motivation ultimately comes from within each of us; it cannot be stimulated solely by an external presence

Each of us decides, based on the characteristics of our job, our work environment, opportunities for ment, coworkers, and so forth, whether we will become motivated to do the work we have been assigned Does that imply that motivation is therefore outside of the ability of project managers? Yes and no Yes, because motivation is an individual decision: We cannot make someone become motivated On the other hand, as one career army officer puts it, "In the army, we can't force people to do anything, but we can sure make them wish they had done it!" Underlying motivation is typically something that the team member desires, whether it is a challenging work assignment, opportunity for recognition and advancement, or simply the desire to stay out

advance-of trouble Successful project managers must recognize that one vital element in their job description is the ability to recognize talent, recruit it to the project team, begin to mold a team of interactive and collaborative workers, and apply motivational techniques as necessary

Having a Vision and Fighting Fires

Successful project managers must operate on the boundaries Sometimes those boundaries divide technical and behavioral problems, and project managers need to be comfortable with both tasks Another boundary refers to the distinction between being a strategic visionary and a day-to-day firefighter Project managers work with conceptual plans, develop the project scope in line with organizational directives, and understand how their project is expected to fit into the company's project portfolio In addition, they are expected to keep their eyes firmly fixed on the ultimate prize: the completed project In short, project managers must be able to think strategically and to consider the "big picture" for their projects At the same time, however, crises and other project challenges occur on a daily basis These crises usually require the project manager to make immediate, tactical decisions, to solve current problems, and to be detail oriented Leaders are able to make the often daily transition from keeping an eye on the big picture to dealing with immediate, smaller problems that occur almost on a regular basis

One executive in a project organization highlighted this distinction very well He stated, "We seek people who can see the forest for the trees but at the same time, are intimately familiar with the species of each variety of tree we grow If one of those trees is sick, they have to know the best formula to fix it quickly." His point was that a visionary who adopts an exclusively strategic view of the project will discover that he cannot deal with the day-to- day "fires" that keep cropping up At the same time, someone who is too exclusively focused on dealing with the daily challenges may lose the ultimate perspective and forget the overall picture or the goals that define the project That balance represents a key boundary that successful project managers must become comfortable occupying

Communicating

Former president Ronald Reagan was labeled "The Great Communicator." He displayed a seemingly natural and fluent ability to project his views clearly, to identify his audience and shape his messages accordingly, and not waver or contradict his basic themes Project managers require the same facility of communication In Chapter 2 we examined the role of stakeholder management in successful projects These stakeholders can have a tremendous impact on the likelihood that a project will succeed or fail; consequently, it is absolutely critical to maintain strong contacts with all stakeholders throughout the project's development There is an old saying in project management regarding the importance of communication with your company's top management: "If they know nothing of what you are doing, they assume you are doing nothing." The message

4.2 How the Project Manager Leads 133

is clear: We must take serious steps to identify relevant stakeholders and establish and maintain tions with them, not sporadically but continually, throughout the project's development

communica-Communicating also serves other valuable purposes Project managers have been described as "mini billboards," the most visible evidence of the status of their project The ways in which project managers communicate, the messages they send (intentional or unintentional), and the manner in which they discuss their projects sends powerful signals to other important stakeholders about the project Whether through developing good meeting and presentation skills, a facility for writing and speaking, or through informal networking, project managers must recognize the importance of communication and become adept at it One of the most critical means by which project managers can communicate is through their ability to run productive meetings Meeting skills are important because project managers spend a large amount of time in meetings—meetings with team members, top management, clients, and other critical project stake-holders Meetings serve a number of purposes for the project team, including these: 7

1 They define the project and the major team players

2 They provide an opportunity to revise, update, and add to all participants' knowledge base, including facts, perceptions, experience, judgments, and other information pertinent to the project

3 They assist team members in understanding how their individual efforts fit into the overall whole of the project as well as how they can each contribute to project success

4 They help all stakeholders increase their commitment to the project through participation in the management process

5 They provide a collective opportunity to discuss the project and decide on individual work assignments

6 They provide visibility for the project manager's role in managing the project

As a result of the wide variety of uses meetings serve, the ability of project managers to become adept at ning them in an efficient and productive manner is critical Meetings are a key method for communicating project status, collectivizing the contributions of individual team members, developing a sense of unity and esprit de corps, and keeping all important project stakeholders up-to-date concerning the project status 8 Two forms of leadership behaviors are critical for effectively running project meetings The first type of behavior is

run-task oriented; that is, it is intended to emphasize behaviors that contribute to completing project assignments,

planning and scheduling activities and resources, and providing the necessary support and technical assistance Task-oriented behavior seeks to get the job done At the same time, effective project leaders are also concerned

about group maintenance behavior Group maintenance suggests that a project manager cannot act at the

expense of concern for the team Group maintenance behavior consists of supportive activities, including showing confidence and trust, acting friendly and supportive, working with subordinates to understand their problems, and recognizing their accomplishments Group maintenance behavior increases cohesiveness, trust, and commitment, and it satisfies all team members' needs for recognition and acceptance

Table 4.2 identifies some of the critical task and group maintenance behaviors that occur in productive project meetings Among the important task-oriented behaviors are structuring the flow of discussion to

TABLE 4.2 Task and Group Maintenance Behaviors for Project Meetings l°

Task-Oriented Behavior Specific Outcome

Group Maintenance Behavior Specific Outcome

1 Gatekeeping Increase and equalize participation

2 Harmonizing Reduce tension and hostility

3 Supporting Prevent withdrawal, encourage exchange

4 Setting standards Regulate behavior

5 Analyzing process Discover and resolve process problems

Source: Yukl, Gary A., Leadership in Organizations, 5th edition, p 329 Copyright © 2002 Adapted by permission

of Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ

exam-the emotional and relational transaction between subordinates and exam-themselves There are five elements that characterize emotional intelligence: (1) self-awareness, (2) self-regulation, (3) motivation, (4) empathy, and (5) social skill With these traits, a project manager can develop the kind of direct, supportive relationships with the project team members that are critical to creating and guiding an effective team

TABLE 4.3 Characteristics of Project Managers Who Lead Rank Characteristics of an Effective Project Manager

7 Stands up to top management when necessary

8 Supports team members

9 Encourages new ideas

ensure that a proper meeting agenda is followed, stimulating conversation among all meeting participants, clarifying and summarizing decisions and perceptions, and testing consensus to identify points of agreement and discord The project manager is the key to achieving effective task behaviors, particularly through a clear sense of timing and pacing 9 For example, pushing for consensus too quickly or stifling conversation and the free flow of ideas will be detrimental to the development of the project team and the outcomes of meetings Likewise, continually stimulating conversation even after agreement has been achieved only serves to prolong

a meeting past the point where it is productive

Among the group maintenance behaviors that effective project leaders need to consider in running meetings are gatekeeping to ensure equal participation, harmonizing to reduce tension and promote team development, supporting by encouraging an exchange of views, regulating behavior through setting standards, and identifying and resolving any "process" problems that cause meeting participants to feel uncomfortable, hurried, or defensive Group maintenance behaviors are just as critical as those related to task and must be addressed as part of a successful meeting strategy Taken together, task and group maintenance goals allow the project manager to gain the maximum benefit from meetings, which are so critical for project communication and form a constant demand on the project manager's time

Table 4.3 paints a portrait of the roles project leaders play in project success by ranking the nine most important characteristics of effective project managers in order of importance The data are based on a study of successful American project managers as perceived by project team members.' I Note that the most important is the willingness of the project manager to lead by example, to highlight the project's goals, and

to first commit to the challenge before calling upon other team members to make a similar commitment

Equally interesting are findings related to the reasons why a project manager might be viewed as ineffective

A set of personal quality flaws, as well as organizational factors that could result in ineffectual performance, are uncovered Table 4.4 lists both the most important personal flaws and the organizational factors that render a project manager ineffective These factors are rank ordered according to the percentage of respon-dents who identified them

135

SELF-AWARENESS Self-awareness implies having a deep understanding of one's own strengths and nesses, ego needs, drives, and motives To be self-aware means to have a clear perspective of one's self; it does not mean to be excessively self-centered or self-involved When I am self-aware, I am capable of interacting better with others because I understand how my feelings and attitudes are affecting my behavior

weak-SELF-REGULATION A key ability in successful leaders is their willingness to keep themselves under control One way each of us practices self-control is our ability to think before we act: in effect, to suspend judgment

Effective leaders are those individuals who have developed self-regulation; that is, the ability to reflect on

events, respond to them after careful consideration, and avoid the mistake of indulging in impulsive behavior

MOTIVATION Effective project leaders are consistently highly motivated individuals They are driven to achieve their maximum potential and they recognize that in order to be successful, they must also work with members of the project team to generate the maximum performance from each of them There are two important traits of effective managers with regard to motivation: first, they are always looking for ways to keep score; that is, they like concrete or clear markers that demonstrate progress Second, effective project managers consistently strive for greater and greater challenges

EMPATHY One important trait of successful project managers is their ability to recognize the differences in each of their subordinates, make allowances for those differences, and treat each team member in a manner

that is designed to gain the maximum commitment from that person Empathy means the willingness to

consider other team members' feelings in the process of making an informed decision

SOCIAL SKILL The final trait of emotional intelligence, social skill, refers to a person's ability to manage tionships with others Social skill is more than simple friendliness; it is friendliness with a purpose Social skill is our ability to move people in a direction we think desirable Among the offshoots of strong social skills are the manner in which we demonstrate persuasiveness, rapport, and building networks

rela-Emotional intelligence is a concept that reflects an important point: Many of the most critical project management skills that define effective leadership are not related to either technical prowess or native ana- lytical ability or IQ Of much greater importance are self-management skills, as reflected in self-awareness, self-regulation, and motivation and relationship management skills, shown through our empathy and social abilities Remember: Project management is first and foremost a people management challenge Once we understand the role that leadership behaviors play in effective project management, we can better identify the ways in which we can use leadership to promote our projects 12

4.3 TRAITS OF EFFECTIVE PROJECT LEADERS

There has been a great deal of research on organizational leadership that was aimed at uncovering those traits that are specific to leaders Because a leader is not the same thing as a manager per se, we find leaders in all walks of life and occupying all levels of organizational hierarchies A recent study, which sought to uncover the traits that most managers felt were important for leaders to possess, is particularly illuminating A large sample survey was used to ask a total of 2,615 managers within U.S corporations what they considered to be the most important characteristics of effective leaders 13

The results of this survey are intriguing A significant majority of managers felt that the most important characteristic of superior leaders was basic honesty They sought leaders who say what they mean and live up to their promises In addition, they sought competence and intelligence, vision, inspiration, fairness, imagination,

TABLE 4.4 Characteristics of Project Managers Who Are Not Leaders

Sets bad example 26.3% Lack of top management support 31.5%

Lacks technical expertise 19.7 Inconsistent reward system 13.2 Poor communicator 1 1.8 A reactive organization rather

than a proactive, planning one

9.2

and dependability, to list a few of the most important characteristics These traits offer an important starting point for better understanding how leaders operate and, more importantly, how the other members of the proj- ect team or organization expect them to operate Clearly, the most important factors we seek in leaders are the dimensions of trust, strength of character, and the intelligence and competence to succeed The expectation of success is important; the majority of followers do not tag along after failures for very long

There is research specifically related to project managers and the leadership traits necessary to be cessful in this more specialized arena Three studies in particular shed some valuable light on the nature of the special demands that project managers face and the concomitant nature of the leadership characteristics they must develop One analyzed data from a number of sources and synthesized a set of factors that most effective project leaders shared in common I4 It identified five important characteristics for proficient proj- ect management: oral communication skills, influencing skills, intellectual capabilities, the ability to handle stress, and diverse management skills, including planning, delegation, and decision making These findings also demonstrated that most project managers do not have the capacity to exercise power that derives from formal positional authority Consequently, they are forced to develop effective influencing skills

suc-The second study also identified five characteristics closely associated with effective project team leaders 1 ' These were:

• Credibility Is the project manager trustworthy and taken seriously by both the project team and the parent organization?

• Creative problem-solver Is the project manager skilled at problem analysis and identification?

• Tolerance for ambiguity Is the project manager adversely affected by complex or ambiguous (uncertain) situations?

• Flexible management style Is the project manager able to handle rapidly changing situations?

• Effective communication skills Is the project manager able to operate as the focal point for nication from a variety of stakeholders?

commu-The final study of necessary abilities for effective project managers collected data from 58 firms on their ect management practices and the skills most important for project managers 16 The researchers found seven essential project manager abilities, including:

proj-1 Organizing under conflict Project managers need the abilities to delegate, manage their time, and handle conflict and criticism

2 Experience Having knowledge of project management and other organizational procedures, ence with technical challenges, and a background as a leader are helpful

experi-3 Decision making Project managers require sound judgment, systematic analytical ability, and decision - making

4 Productive creativity The need to show creativity, develop and implement innovative ideas, and challenge the old, established order

5 Organizing with cooperation Project managers must be willing to create a positive team phere, demonstrate a willingness to learn, and engage in positive interpersonal contact

atmos-6 Cooperative leadership This skill refers to the project manager's ability to motivate others, to cooperate, and to express ideas clearly

7 Integrative thinking Project managers need to be able to think analytically, to involve others in the decision-making process

Conclusions about Project L4 , aders

Given the wide-ranging views, it is important to note the commonalities across these studies and to draw some general conclusions about the nature of project leadership The specific conclusions that have practical relevance to selecting and training effective project leaders suggest several themes, including:

• Effective project managers must be good communicators

• Project leaders must possess the flexibility to respond to uncertain or ambiguous situations with a imum of stress

min-• Strong project leaders work well with and through their project team

• Good project leaders are skilled at various influence tactics

While examining the traits of successful leaders is valuable, it presents only part of the picture One key to understanding leadership behavior is to focus on what leaders do rather than who they are

4.3 Traits of Effective Project Leaders 137

PROJECT PROFILE

John Parker and A.G Edwards

When John Parker signed on as the new chief technology officer (CTO) at A.G Edwards, he was under no illusions that he would not have his work cut out for him The IT department of this billion-dollar retail brokerage had a poor track record for new project development and implementation Projects routinely overshot their target dates, sometimes by years, and costs were spiraling out of control In fact, the average project wound up costing 54% more than the original budget and taking 54% longer than planned Every year, the firm was taking millions of dollars in write-offs for projects that simply failed In short, Parker found very quickly that the IT group was in need

of far more than making simple adjustments; they needed emergency surgery, and quickly

The challenge was serious because Parker had been hired primarily to oversee a $200 million, five-year ect with the goal of migrating all data to a new mainframe computer system All this had to be done in a seamless way, in order that the basic activities of the company were not compromised or delayed Given the costs and the challenges facing A.G Edwards should this project fail or be seriously delayed, it is safe to say that Parker's abilities would go far toward shaping the company's efficiency of operations and profitability for some years to come Parker immediately sought to address some of the most serious problems with the IT group's operations First, he perceived that a serious dose of relationship management was in order By that, he meant that relation- ships with other departments that depended upon his group's performance had to be repaired, top management had to be actively engaged in the way in which projects were run, and the focus of his group had to change to one

proj-of streamlining and rapid response As he noted, "If you try to fix project management without fixing the top first, you're not going to have much success Projects will always flame out if your leaders aren't flying air-cover for proj- ects when they get into trouble, regardless of how good your project management procedures and tools are." Parker also made several adjustments to the project management process within A.G Edwards For exam- ple, he instituted a standard plan format for monitoring and reporting project status, he worked to restructure the project management office (PMO) to foster joint accountability between the IT project managers and the functional department heads—groups that had been historically at odds with each other—and he sought to rede- fine the definition of project success to also consider how well projects deliver business value to their user In this way, if a project is somewhat late but delivers high value to the customer, it is considered a success Throughout all the changes he has introduced to the way projects are run at A.G Edwards, Parker has remained an active and highly visible presence, making clear to all that he is personally committed to pursuing maximum change for the benefit first of the IT group and subsequently, for the overall corporation

The results of Parker's active, hands-on leadership style have been impressive within the company, most ularly with regard to the large migration project he was hired to oversee Since 2002, the company's success rate for new projects has soared from the original 54% to nearly 90%, while IT and telecom costs have declined by nearly 20% The conversion of the old legacy system has proceeded smoothly and the final completion of the migration project occurred on time in late 2008

partic-Leading and Time Orientation

Recent work on the concept of time orientation has some interesting implications for project leadership

behavior Time orientation refers to the temporal context or space to which an individual is oriented

Specifically, researchers have long argued that each of us has a natural tendency to focus on one of three time

orientations: past, present, or future This temporal alignment has the effect of influencing our behaviors

and causes each of us to perform some tasks well, while making others more difficult For example, if your time orientation is future-directed, it is easier to engage in planning On the other hand, you might find it harder to do tasks such as performance appraisals because they require you to be able to recapture past events The ability of project managers to engage in temporal alignment with the tasks they face is an important skill that they need to develop

Table 4.5 identifies some important concepts in temporal alignment and the temporal skills that have implications for us as project managers There are five elements in temporal alignment, including timeline orientation, future time perspective, time span, polychromic/monochromic preference, and time conception

The temporal skills and abilities needed to perform certain tasks include time warping, creating future vision, chunking time, predicting, and recapturing the past

Time orientation is a useful concept to consider when developing project management skills because

it highlights some salient facts: (1) Each of us prefers certain time orientations, either past, present, or

future; (2) these preferred orientations have some associated strengths and drawbacks when it comes to

TABLE 4.5 Temporal Alignment and Temporal Skills

Temporal Alignment

• Timeline orientation—The temporal context or space in time (past, present, or future) in which

an individual most often sees himself or herself

• Future time perspective—The extent to which the future drives an individual's current behavior

• Time span—The amount of future time one is capable of capturing in one's mind

• Polychronic./monochronic preference—A desire for doing more than one thing at a time, or only one thing at a time

• Time conception—A set of beliefs about the nature of time and life, cyclical (life repeats itself)

or linear (life proceeds in a straight line, always forward)

Temporal Skills

• Time warping—Cognitively bringing the past and future closer to the present

• Creating future vision—Creating an image of a project in the future

• Chunking time—Creating units of future time to be used for scheduling

• Predicting—Generating estimates of what will occur in the future

• Recapturing the past—Remembering and using information from the past

managing projects; and (3) we need to recognize that effective project management often requires us to be comfortable with other, nonpreferred time orientations Let us consider each of these facts in turn

1 We each have time orientation preferences, either toward the past, present, or future

Research in psychology has established the fact that individual personalities differ in terms of time orientation) ;

Some of us prefer to adopt a future time perspective, while others maintain a present or past time preference Having a preference predisposes us to perform some activities well while either avoiding or doing the minimum

in other areas

2 Each time orientation has associated strengths and weaknesses for managing projects

Research suggests that the preferred time orientation each of us possesses naturally inclines us to perform some project management activities well and others with greater difficulty or unwillingness Table 4.6 illustrates this notion Note that some activities related to past time orientation, such as project problem solving or team member evaluation, directly draw upon our ability to recapture the past Think of a project lessons-learned meeting during the termination phase It is precisely at times such as this that the ability to recapture past events, typically associated with past time orientation, is so valuable Conversely, future time orientation, requiring skills such as time warping or predicting, is critical to our ability to handle contingency planning

3 Effective project management requires that we develop skills in other time orientation modes

As Table 4.6 demonstrates, while we may each have preferred time orientations that make certain tasks easier

or harder to perform, as leaders we need to develop the full range of our skills, suggesting that we at least

TABLE 4.6 Time-Related Project Leader Duties

Project Leader Duty Temporal Skill Needed

A Past-oriented tasks Project problem solving Recapturing the past

Team member evaluation Recapturing the past Lessons-learned meetings Recapturing the past

B Present-oriented tasks Scheduling Time warping

Managing multiple project Polychronicity problems

C Future-oriented tasks Contingency planning Time warping

Predicting Creating a vision for the project Creating future vision